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UnCapped
UNCAPPED Curaleaf Dispensary in Frederick
In this episode of the UnCapped podcast, host Chris Sands talks with Erin Lillis, a district manager of Curaleaf Dispensary, about medical marijuana and Maryland’s recent legalization of recreational use. Here is an excerpt of their conversation. UnCapped: How many states is Curaleaf in? Erin Lillis: We’re currently in 21 states. UnCapped: I don’t know how many of them have exciting news, but at least in Maryland, the full legalization of [marijuana] will go into effect next year. Lillis: Yes, we’re super excited. I think unfortunately not all five states that had the initiative on their ballot passed, but excited to see that Maryland did, with a very significant margin. Last I checked, over 65% in favor. UnCapped: Yeah, I think leading into it, there was no second-guessing as to whether or not it was gonna pass. Lillis: Yeah, we saw some polls flashing as high as 70%, so there’s been a ton of optimism. Missouri also passed, with a little bit narrower margin, so it was exciting to see that for them as well. UnCapped: Can you explain to me what Curaleaf is? Lillis: We are a leading international provider of consumer products and cannabis. Our main mission is to improve lives by providing clarity around cannabis and confidence in consumption. We currently operate 142 dispensaries in the United States that support that. UnCapped: Does Curaleaf grow, also? Lillis: We do. So, we currently have 26 cultivation sites in the 21 states that we operate in. UnCapped: You don’t have a cultivation site in Frederick, right? Just the dispensary. Lillis: Correct. UnCapped: The grow facility in Frederick, and I imagine yours are this way in other cities, it’s crazy, the amount of security put in place at those facilities. Lillis: Yeah. I’ve toured a number of facilities in the state now, and that’s certainly consistent across the board, and I would imagine that will continue as growers ramp up as we prepare
Curaleaf
to head into adult use in the next few years. UnCapped: When was Curaleaf founded? Lillis: We were founded under the name PalliaTech in 2010 and then changed our name to Curaleaf in 2018. UnCapped: Was that just a rebranding? Lillis: Just a renaming that was in line with how we were presenting to the public. UnCapped: Does Curaleaf only do medicinal, or in states where it is fully legal, are you able to sell to anyone? Lillis: We do operate both medical and adult-use facilities. States that have already legalized and have adult-use programs in place, we do operate adult-use locations there, with New Jersey being most recently added. UnCapped: Are they in the same facility, or do they have to be separate? Lillis: With New Jersey specifically, we operate under the same facility, but medical patients are served separately. That looks different in every state, and we’ll wait to hear from the state of Maryland on how that will look here, as they’re writing the regulations. Most states have prioritized in their regulations protecting the experience of the medical patient, which I’ll anticipate we’ll see here as well.
Curaleaf Dispensary
5420 Urbana Pike, Frederick 240-801-3775 curaleaf.com UnCapped: What does prioritize mean? Lillis: Our medical patients, in many states, have their own separate line. They’re dispensed from a separate line of product, so they always have a protected supply for the medical patient. There are considerations for the medical patient, to ensure ease of getting in and out of the dispensary, speed of service, continuing to educate the patient about the medication they’re picking up. UnCapped: Maryland has not done anything to put retail into place yet, correct? I guess it would make sense to wait until the vote took place. Lillis: Yeah. We’ve seen some loosening of restrictions and changing of regulations as recently as this fall. We’ve seen the state extend the certification period for medical patients and reduce the cost of the application. We see those as positive steps toward some of the new regulations that we’ll expect for adult use. UnCapped: So they were kind of lowering the barrier for people to get medical access? Lillis: Exactly. UnCapped: So, it was two or three weeks ago that you opened your first location in Frederick. Lillis: Yes. We relocated a dispensary from Gaithersburg to Frederick. We opened for a few hours on Oct. 18, with the 19th being our first full day. There was a lot of anticipation and buildup, and our first patient to walk through the doors was welcomed by a round of applause from the team. It was amazing to be a part of it. UnCapped: Hopefully they were an outgoing person, because if not, that could’ve been very awkward. Lillis: Yeah. We read the room, and he was just as excited as we were and surprised that he was the first patient. He just happened to be driving by as we were putting up the “Now Open” sign and happened to stop in.
This excerpt has been edited for space and clarity. Listen to the full podcast at fnppodcasts.com/uncapped. Got UnCapped news? Email csands@ newspost.com.
